


how it makes you a weapon

by voodoochild



Category: Boardwalk Empire
Genre: Daddy Issues, Daddy Kink, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-28 16:28:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New York is a court, Rothstein its king. James Darmody knows how to to be a prince, but Richard Harrow does not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	how it makes you a weapon

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Boardwalk Empire Comment Ficathon](http://cloudytea.livejournal.com/139537.html), for the prompt _"Feign with consequence, lose with eloquence and smile/I'm not in this movie, I'm not in this song."_

They're not his sons, and they never will be.

Richard doesn't even know if Jimmy sees it, the quiet, paternalistic tone in Rothstein's voice, the small touches here and there. He'd probably enjoy it just the same, because Jimmy's always been looking for a father to replace the monster his own is, whereas Richard's father is, last time he checked, still tending the farm in Wisconsin.

Each time that Rothstein takes them aside, calls them his boys like they're the same as Luciano and Lansky, Richard misses Nucky a little bit more. Nucky Thompson wasn't the type of man Richard likes working for - hawk-eyed gaze pinning him in place like Richard was a butterfly in a collection (something strange, to be studied) - but in some ways, he was better than Rothstein's exacting politesse.

Rothstein's a collector. He loves the rough-edged ones like Luciano, the slow-burn of Lanksy, the deep pain of Jimmy. He sees them as weapons to be fashioned, sharpened, honed against his own steel. Richard is just another broken boy to Rothstein, for whatever reasons the man has, and he thinks he'll be able to polish Richard into another sword.

Richard is a gun - deadly, precise, messy. Nothing like what a man such as Arnold Rothstein wants.

Richard waits, and Richard watches. He lets Jimmy get on his knees for the man who owns New York and recieve absolution for sins Rothstein can't even conceive of. The want rises in him as Rothstein holds Jimmy down, presses lips to the back of Jimmy's neck and tells them both to _be good_ , but Richard won't roll over for anyone.

He stands by Rothstein's couch and frees his cock for Jimmy because Jimmy begs. Richard knows that blackout need to forget, and he can't deny Jimmy the release. He knots his hand in Jimmy's hair and stares down Rothstein, because that's what the older man likes best about him.

A son who won't obey.

Later, Rothstein will watch and wait as Richard cleans Jimmy up. Richard strokes hands over Jimmy's trembling muscles, and promises to be there when he wakes up. Rothstein will hand Richard a slip of paper with the next job on it, and when Richard comes back, he'll watch as Richard cleans the blood off his clothes. Stand in the doorway as cloth is wiped down, scrubbed meticulously, and the tin mask is polished.

Richard doesn't speak and Rothstein wouldn't want him to. There's a fragile peace, between the violence Richard has just committed and the rewards Rothstein will reap from it. The only thing Richard asks is that Rothstein thank him. A word. A touch. A nod.

A king's thanks is all a soldier really wants, after all.


End file.
